Gnome Hollow

To set up Gnome Hollow, place the Garden tile board in the center and fill its spaces with random tiles drawn from the bag. Stack additional tiles underneath the sunset tile nearby. Set up the pin wheel market board with its square tokens, create supplies of mushroom and treasure tokens, and place signpost pieces within reach. Arrange the wildflower tiles with matching flower tokens based on the player count. Finally, each player takes a player board, ring markers, two gnomes, and a player aid, placing their markers onto their board's starting spaces.

The main objective of Gnome Hollow is to score the most points by the end of the game. Players collect tiles to build and claim paths, forming complete rings that yield mushrooms, flowers, and treasures. Having the most points proves you are the most hardworking gnome and secures your victory.

A player's turn consists of three steps. First, pick two tiles from the garden board and place them legally into the garden, then refill the board. Check if the placed tiles created any closed loops or rings to earn mushroom tokens and advance your ring markers. Second, resolve any marker bonuses, which might include gaining wildflowers or extra benefits. Third, optionally move a gnome to claim a path, collect a flower, visit a signpost, or trade mushrooms at the pin wheel market.

Final scoring happens after the end game conditions are met. Players add up points from three main sources: the point value beneath their rightmost flower token, the value above their rightmost empty ring marker space, and the total value of all collected treasure tokens. Leftover mushrooms do not grant points. The player with the highest total wins.

The game end is triggered in one of three ways: a player collects their eighth flower token, moves their eighth ring marker, or the tile bag runs out of tiles. Once triggered, finish the current round so everyone gets an equal number of turns, allow one final optional gnome move per player, and then proceed to final scoring.